MID TERM REVIEW OF EARLY RECOVERY FACILITY (ERF)

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2 UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME BANGLADESH MID TERM REVIEW OF EARLY RECOVERY FACILITY (ERF) February 2014 Preethi De Silva & Hasan Shafie Page 2

3 ABREVIATIONS& ACRONYMS AusAID BDPC CCED BS CDMP CFW CFS CG DC DFID DM DRF DRRO ECHO ERD EOI ERF FTP GoB HCTT HQ IFRC LCG-DER LGED LoA M&E MIS MoDMR MS SQL MTR NPDM NGO PIO R & D SDC SLDPGP SKUS ToR TRMEs UNDP UNICEF USD WASH WFO WFP WHO Australian Aid Bangladesh Disaster Preparedness Center Climate Change Environment and Disaster Bangladesh Scouts Comprehensive Disaster Management Programme Cash for Work Core Family Shelters Cash Grants Deputy Commissioner Department for International Development Disaster Management Disaster Response Facility Disaster Relief & Rehabilitation Officer European Community Humanitarian Office External Resources Department Expression of Interest Early Recovery Facility Fast Track Procedure Government of Bangladesh Humanitarian Coordination Task Team Head Quarters International Federation of Red Cross Local Consultative Group Disaster & Emergency Response Local Government & Engineering Department Letter of Agreement Monitoring & Evaluation Management Information System Ministry of Disaster management & Relief Microsoft Structured Query Language Mid - Term Review National Plan for Disaster Management Non-Governmental Organization Project Implementation Officer Research & Development Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation Strengthening Local DM Practices through GO-NGO Partnership SamajKallyan O UnnayanSangstha Terms of Reference Training, Research, and Monitoring Entities United Nations Development Programme The United Nations Children's Fund United States Dollars Water, Sanitation & Housing World Food Programme World Food Programme World Health Organization Page 3

4 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABREVIATIONS& ACRONYMS... 3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY... 5 SECTION- I: BACKGROUND AND CONTEXTS... 9 INTRODUCTION... 9 SITUATION AND CONTEXT... 9 PROJECT DESIGN AND OUTCOMES PURPOSE OF THE MID TERM REVIEW METHODOLOGY SECTION- II: OBSERVATIONS AND FINDINGS RELEVANCE OF ERF EFFECTIVENESS OF ERF EFFECIENCY OF ERF RESULTS - OUTCOMES SUSTAINABILITY OF ERF ADDITIONAL REMARKS SECTION- III: CONCLUSIONS AND LESSONS LEARNED SECTION- IV: RECOMMENDATIONS AND WAYS FORWARD RECOMMENDATIONS ON POLICY AND PROGRAMMATIC SUPPORT RECOMMENDATIONS ON CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT RECOMMENDATIONS ON EMERGENCY RESPONSE AND EARLY RECOVERY APPENDIX- 01: TERMS OF REFERENCE MID TERM REVIEW OF EARLY RECOVERY FACILITY APPENDIX- 02: LIST OF DOCUMENTS REVIEWED APPENDIX- 03: LIST OF PERSONS MET APPENDIX- 04: LIMITATIONS AND CHALLENGES TO THE REVIEW APPENDIX- 05: WORK SCHEDULE FOR ERF MID- TERM REVIEW Page 4

5 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1. UNDP Bangladesh s Early Recovery Facility (ERF) is expected to promote national ownership of the post disaster early recovery process through the fullest possible engagement of national and local authorities in the planning, execution and monitoring of recovery actions with UNDP assistance. The ERF Project is working towards establishing a coordinated early recovery mechanism in Bangladesh through setting up a functional early recovery mechanism, capacity building of government s disaster management officials, and networking of DM volunteers ready to respond during emergency. 2. The overall objective of ERF is to provide policy and programmatic support to the government for effective local and national level recovery and to introduce interventions guided by development principles in a post-disaster situation. ERF s core objective also holds the flexibility to complement the national effort during times of emergency response as and when necessary. 3. The following five outcomes mentioned in the SDC Project Document became the basis for project reporting in the third quarter 2012 together with eight outputs: o o o o o Outcome 1:Coordinated Early Recovery Mechanism in Place Outcome 2: Early Recovery Innovations are Locally Developed and Tested Outcome 3: National Scale Emergency and Early Recovery Needs are Complemented Outcome 4:Early Recovery Procedures are Sustained Outcome 5: Early Recovery Policies and Standards are Developed and Applied 4. The purpose of the MTR is to assess the level of progress being made towards the achievement of project outcomes and outputs till date since inception of the project and will identify course corrections, if needed. In addition to the formal requirements, the MTR is expected to be a central document for ERF that will give the stakeholders a dynamic insight into the nature and extent of progress made across the programme and indicate its future direction during the remaining project period. The findings of this review will be incorporated as recommendations for enhanced implementation during the final half of the project s term ( ). 5. Among several project accomplishments during the period from February 2011 to December 2013, the most notable include; o Contribution towards reforming the humanitarian coordination system in Bangladesh through support to review of the humanitarian coordination system; presentation of review findings and new reformed humanitarian coordination architecture to LCG-DER; and active participation in the Humanitarian Coordination Task Team (HCTT) (Outcome 1) o Early recovery procedures developed and sustained through establishment and operationalization of Early Recovery Cluster and Shelter Cluster (Outcome 4) Page 5

6 o Development and endorsement of Joint Needs Assessment Methodology by the LCG- DER; and successful testing of the methodology after in South East Floods in June 2012 and Tropical Storm Mahasen in May 2013 (Outcome 4). o Improved capacity of the newly created Department of Disaster Management for emergency preparedness, response and early recovery. Most notable support included training of DRROs and PIOs, the DDM officials responsible for supporting the Disaster Management Committees at the district and upazila level; hazard specific contingency planning; documentation of response efforts and lessons on post disaster response and recovery(outcome 1, 5); o Development of disaster resilient village in Koyra, cyclone Aila affected area; which demonstrates build back better approach with an integrated package of Disaster Resilient Core Family Shelters; climate resilient livelihood options; and rehabilitation of embankment. (Outcome 2). o Complementing government s efforts in addressing emergency response and early recovery by providing Cash for Work and Cash Grants for affected families in Aila Affected Area, South East Flood Affected and Tropical Storm Mahasen Affected Area. The interventions were closely coordinated with DDM and local authorities (outcome 3); o On the operational part, ERF has successfully managed to get UNDP HQ approval for Fast Track Procedure; and served as pilot project in setting up NGO Roster for effective crisis response, by providing feedback to the UNDP global policy and tools (outcome 1). 6. The MTR Mission is inclined to believe that reformed Humanitarian Architecture is yet to be tested in a large scale disaster in Bangladesh. The Activation of UNDP s Fast Track Procedure was effective in June 2013; The NGO Roster was set up end of Therefore, for two disasters, namely, South East Floods in June 2012 and Tropical Storm Mahasen in May 2013, pre-qualified NGOs were selected through UNDP standard procurement process. Therefore, whole ERF approach in Early Recovery under Fast Track Process is yet to be tested in a real-time large scale disaster in Bangladesh. Although yet to be applied since its set up, the NGO Roster is an innovative tool, expected to significantly reduce contracting procedures and enabling ERF to contract pre-qualified NGOs within 48 hours. 7. As MTR Mission understands Early Recovery Approach in a real situation there should not be anytime gap between Emergency Relief Phase and Early Recovery Phase. Under the Fast Track Procedure, contracted pre-qualified NGOs by ERF should be able to reach beneficiaries in the form of Cash for Work and Cash Grants right after Emergency Relief Phase. Even though Cash for Work and Cash Grants were offered to affected families in South East Flood and Tropical Storm Mahasen affected areas under ERF through partner NGOs, there was a long delay in responding through Early Recovery Mechanism. Although it was quicker in Tropical Storm Mahasen (May 2013) affected area compared with South East Flood affected area, two and a half months time gap between disaster and Early Response is considered too long for commencing early recovery interventions. The time gap is due to the currently applied HCTT needs assessment coordination practice, which requires Page 6

7 detailed assessment to be completed before initiating early recovery interventions. The procedures for data collection, analysis, cluster consultation, report writing, presentation and approval by HCTT and LCG-DER, preparing or and contracting partner NGOs for implementation early recovery interventions takes over two months. These lessons need to be reviewed in the HCTT forum. 8. It was observed that information collected using Government s assessment tool, D Form, is not sufficient in order to prepare concrete Early Recovery Plans for implementation. Moreover, as Phase III Sector Specific Needs Assessment is conducted three weeks after a disaster event, such assessment does not help in planning Early Response Plans which is practically required to help disaster affected population immediately after a disaster. Therefore, the best available option is to review and revise D Form and collect required data in respect of at least most important sectors immediately after disaster. This will help interested donors, international NGOs and local NGOs to identify areas, where they can render assistance by providing funds as well as physical implementation of Early Response Plans within the shortest possible time. 9. In light of the above findings, the MTR Mission strongly recommends that D Form be revised in order to capture most crucial data for most crucial sectors to prepare Early Response Plans at sub-national level for speedy implementation. As affected poor families are in dire need for cash after a disaster, a strong coordination mechanism between Emergency Relief and Early Recovery be recommended to ensure that affected families transition from relief phase to early recovery phase as quickly as possible. Ideally, when there is a delay in implementing Early Recovery Plans, the Emergency Relief should be prolonged rather than abrupt termination of Emergency Relief without providing any continued support to affected families. 10. The key recommendations are broadly divided in the line of three categories encompassing ERF s five outcomes and 8 outputs: (1) policy and programmatic support; (ii) capacity development; and (iii) post disaster emergency response and early recovery. Categories POLICY AND PROGRAMMATIC SUPPORT Key Recommended Actions Support to integrate Early Recovery in the National DM Policy which is yet to be finalized; Support to conduct Mid-Term Review of the National Disaster Management Plan ( ) and explore the planning gaps in context of addressing Early Recovery issues; Provide technical assistance from ER perspectives in formulating the National Disaster Management Plan 2016 to 2020; Support MoDMR in developing of National Recovery Guidelines; Disseminate Early Recovery Guiding Principles to wider stakeholders to mature the case of ER as a key function of comprehensive disaster management; Continue support to innovation and piloting Disaster Resilient Village; Document the lessons learnt on innovation and piloting Disaster Resilient Village for dissemination and use in up-scaling; and Advocacy and communications strategy to make key donors aware of ERF and future funding needs. Page 7

8 CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT EMERGENCY RESPONSE AND EARLY RECOVERY Prepare capacity development strategy (CDS) of DDM; Set benchmark and baseline standards for capacity development of DDM; Conduct periodic training evaluation by an independent party to assess the effectiveness and impact of the training programme; Implement Refresher Training when desired capacities are found to be inadequate; Develop MIS profiling of existing staffs capacities; Implement training course for Deputy Commissioner and Upazila Nirbahi Officers on Disaster Management and Early Recovery; and Continue efforts to build capacities of the pre-qualifies NGOs and Bangladesh Scout. Early recovery planning should not wait for the detailed needs assessment and should be launched immediately after the result of the Government s D-Form report and Joint Needs Assessment report; Independent evaluation be carried out to assess the return on investment in terms of livelihood earnings accrued by Cash Grant Recipients; Provide cash for work immediately after emergency relief phase for cash introjections into affected communities as well as restoring public infrastructures; Upscale construction of Core Family Shelters in affected areas; Active participation of Local Government institutions and different Government service providing agencies at Upazila level be ensured by involving them in design, supervision, quality control and, more importantly routine maintenance of rehabilitated roads after completion; MIS be developed and installed in the office of DDM, up and running for easy accessing of details of various sub-projects being implemented by different agencies in a post-disaster situation; and DDM, together with local administration in Upazila Offices, should be entrusted with the responsibility of supervision and monitoring of pre-selected NGOs during implementation of sub-projects. Page 8

9 SECTION- I: BACKGROUND AND CONTEXTS INTRODUCTION 1. UNDP Bangladesh s Early Recovery Facility (ERF) promotes national ownership of the post disaster early recovery process through the fullest possible engagement of national and local authorities in the planning, execution and monitoring of recovery actions with UNDP assistance. The ERF Project is working towards establishing a coordinated early recovery mechanism in Bangladesh through setting up a functional early recovery mechanism, capacity building of government s disaster management officials, and networking of DM volunteers ready to respond during emergency. It is mandated to develop an overall recovery preparedness plan, and advocate for the allocation of resources in support of early recovery activities. The Early Recovery Facility Project of UNDP also has the mandate to compliment Government with emergency response and early recovery interventions, following disaster events. 2. According to the Project Document, the overall objective of ERF is to provide policy and programmatic support to the government for effective local and national level recovery and to introduce interventions guided by development principles in a post-disaster situation. ERF s core objective also holds the flexibility to complement the national effort during times of emergency response as and when necessary. 3. The ERF Project is the main instrument of UNDP in managing and strengthening the early recovery network and early recovery cluster in Bangladesh, and advocate for mainstreaming policies, standards and mechanisms for early recovery in the national development framework through supporting DDM and MoDMR and other stakeholders. SITUATION AND CONTEXT 4. Bangladesh sustains significant progresses as a developing economy over the years but such escalating growth is being recurrently intercepted by multitudinous natural disasters and socioeconomic processes. Owing to the other concomitant factors like the deltaic formation history and low-line coastal morphology has turned Bangladesh into the most disaster prone region on earth and is highly susceptible to climate change impacts. The coastal zone of the country is highly vulnerable to climate change driven impacts of cyclone and subsequent storm surge. 5. In recent times, Cyclone SIDR (November 2007) and Cyclone Aila (May 2009), put together, claimed the lives of an estimated 3,700 people and devastated local infrastructure, livelihood opportunities and household assets. The situation becomes increasingly worse due to the multiplying effects of high social vulnerabilities. Inadequate governance, weak institutions, relative deprivation, exploitation and denial of fundamental human rights including highly polarized access to resources through commercial and industrial entities and vested interest groups are defining characteristic of everyday existence in Bangladesh. Page 9

10 6. The Bangladesh economy is highly dependent on agriculture and, at large, natural calamities of different types have made the farmers vulnerable to crop failures and food scarcities accelerating poverty in the country. Additionally, a doubling of Bangladesh total population in the last 30 years developed a sharp imbalance in the main-resource (particularly land and water). Poverty, environmental degradation and vulnerability are inextricably bound together in Bangladesh. 31.5% of the population are poor and depend on an overexploited and degrading natural resource base. 7. The Government of Bangladesh (GoB) has taken many initiatives for poverty alleviation through disaster reduction programmes under multi-hazards and multi-sectoral environment. As a result, Bangladesh has made significant progress at policy level along with a series of policy and institutional changes had been undertaken by the Government in addressing the natural disasters and climate change impacts. 8. Given this backdrop, UNDP designed two folds programmatic supports, Comprehensive Disaster Management Programme (CDMP) and Early Recovery Facility (ERF), with respective emphasis on DRR and disaster response management in Bangladesh. The two programmes, CDMP and ERF, are designed on complementary basis to address the full cycle disaster management needs of the country (indicated in the Figure- 01). The first phase of CDMP was designed in 2001 as a five-year initiative and implemented during 2004 to 2009, with the overall aim of contributing to poverty alleviation through disaster risk reduction in Bangladesh. The first phase of CDMP has concentrated on building systems and capacity within the MoFDM at various levels and reaching out to NGOs, academia and training organizations. The ongoing CDMP II ( ) is a vertical and horizontal expansion of its earlier phase activities designed to institutionalize the risk reduction approaches and frameworks in thirteen key ministries and agencies in Bangladesh. The approach of CDMP II is to channel support through government and development partners, civil society and NGOs into a people-oriented disaster management and risk reduction partnership. 9. The Early Recovery Facility (ERF) Project, to strengthen the disaster response management, has been launched in February 2011 as a successor to the Disaster Response Facility (DRF) project. ERF has the mandate to compliment the ongoing Government s efforts with emergency response and early recovery interventions, following disaster events. The project is designed to establish a coordinated early recovery mechanism in Bangladesh through setting up a functional early recovery mechanism, capacity building of government s disaster management officials, and networking of DM volunteers ready to respond during emergency. The UNDP Bangladesh s ERF Project, however, is working towards managing Page 10

11 and strengthening the early recovery network and early recovery cluster in Bangladesh, and advocate for mainstreaming policies, standards and mechanisms for early recovery in the national development framework. Moreover, ERF is mandated to introduce interventions, good practices, at the community level guided by development principles in a post-disaster situation for effective recovery (indicated in the Figure- 02). 10. ERF will pursue the following specific objectives in the context of Bangladesh: o o o o The ERF is aimed at promoting national ownership of the early recovery process through the fullest possible engagement of national and local authorities in the planning, execution and monitoring of early recovery actions. Following the principle of build back better, ERF aims to implement early recovery in a way that reduces damages and losses in case of a future disaster. ERF s approach to build back better paradigm is tailored to local priorities, needs and resources along with balanced community participation. However, built back better is not necessarily limited to the rebuilding of physical infrastructures only, but also implies durable social relationships leading towards better development outcomes in the long term. The ERF through UNDP will support the national and local government in developing policies and plans for full recovery leading towards resilience and development. Such a support will be provided through system assessment of recovery needs, coordination amongst various agencies, preparation of an early recovery plan/ framework, and through provision of material, financial and human resource support wherever necessary. The ERF will promote equity, social inclusion, and transparency in promoting recovery Page 11

12 policies and plans. It will advocate people s participation in recovery planning, and promote policies and programmes which do not discriminate on the basis of gender, ethnicity, religion, age, disability, etc. o o The ERF will support and strengthen the Early Recovery Network and Early Recovery Cluster in Bangladesh, develop an overall recovery preparedness plan, and advocate for the allocation of resources in support of early recovery activities. The ERF will support Research and Development (R&D) to explore sustainable disaster response, early recovery and pilot demonstration to address critical challenges due to changing pattern of disasters under emerging climate change scenario. 11. ERF programs and activities are designed to promote equity, social inclusion, and transparency and forwards recovery policies and plans. ERF advocates people s participation in recovery planning, and promotes policies and programs which do not discriminate on the basis of gender, ethnicity, religion, age, disability, etc. This 5.8 million USD ERF project is being implemented since 2011 with funding from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), Australian Aid (AusAID) and UNDP. It mobilizes resources to prepare, plan, and implement interventions to ensure that people affected by disasters recover and seek development gains. PROJECT DESIGN AND OUTCOMES 12. According to the initial Project document there were seven distinct outputs and project progress was reported in quarterly progress reporting from the First Quarter 2011 to the Third Quarter 2012 on the basis of such seven outputs. However, since the third quarter 2012 project progress has been reported on eight Project Outputs coming under five Project Outcomes, as per the SDC project results framework. The Project Advisory Board approved the revised results framework of ERF which consolidated the results stated in the UNDP Project Document and the SDC Project Document in December The ERF Project is the main instrument of UNDP in managing and strengthening the early recovery network and early recovery cluster in Bangladesh, and advocate for mainstreaming policies, standards and mechanisms for early recovery in the national development framework. As per revised Results Framework, ERF project is expected to achieve the following outcomes: o Coordinated Early Recovery Mechanism in Place o Early Recovery Innovations are Locally Developed and Tested o National Scale Emergency and Early Recovery Needs are Complemented o Early Recovery Procedures are Sustained o Early Recovery Policies and Standards are Developed and Applied PURPOSE OF THE MID TERM REVIEW 14. The purpose of Review is three folds; Page 12

13 o o o In line with the commitments given in the approved project document between UNDP and the Government of Bangladesh, the independent Mid-Term Review (MTR) will assess the level of progress being made towards the achievement of progress against the project outcomes and outputs till date since inception of the project and will identify course corrections, if needed. In addition to the formal requirements, the MTR is expected to be a central document for ERF that will give the stakeholders a dynamic insight into the nature and extent of progress made across the programme and indicate its future direction during the remaining project period. The MTR will focus on the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, results and sustainability of project implementation; will highlight issues requiring decisions and actions; and will present initial lessons learned about project design, implementation and management. The findings of this review will be incorporated as recommendations for enhanced implementation during the final half of the project s term ( ). METHODOLOGY 15. As stipulated in the Terms of Reference (Appendix- 01) the consultancy has commenced with document review. The list of documents reviews by Review Mission is given in Appendix 2.The MTR Mission occupied two methods for collecting information; secondary data sources such as quarterly progress reports and other related technical reports and primary data gathering through one-to-one meetings/interviews with key stakeholders and follow-up field observations. 16. As per MTR Itinerary (Appendix- 05) Interviews were held scheduled with key stakeholders including GoB officials, UNDP Country Office, ERF staffs, donors, implementing partners, Disaster Management Committees, local administration, beneficiaries and other relevant informants. Two project intervention sites, namely, Koyra CFS & Embankment Projects and Chokoria with SKUS were visited for field observations including meetings with relevant local administration and Disaster Management Committees, and beneficiaries. During field visits active discussions with direct beneficiaries were quite challenging because of the outside interference by spectators including some of Union Parishod Members. In terms of area selection, it would have been prudent to have selected a field site in Tropical Storm Mahasen affected area as ERF Interventions appear to be quicker compared to that of the South East Flood affected area. 17. The MTR Mission was guided by Key Evaluation Questions given in the Terms of Reference and an Evaluation Matrix was prepared and presented in Inception Report with most appropriate evaluation questions. The proposed strategy was to ask such questions indirectly and induce stakeholders to enter into a lively discussion to receive more descriptive and elaborative answers. In addition, comments on the Terms of Reference provided by two donors, namely, AUSAID and SDC would be accommodated in framing final evaluation questions. Page 13

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15 SECTION- II: OBSERVATIONS AND FINDINGS 18. The MTR Mission is inclined to believe that reformed Humanitarian Architecture is yet to be tested in a large scale disaster in Bangladesh. Fortunately, no such major disasters have taken place since the establishment of eight humanitarian clusters under humanitarian architecture and, however, newly formed coordination mechanism was successfully tested after Flash Floods in June 2012 and Mahasen Cyclone in May The Mission has observed ERF was the first responder, other than the Government, following the tropical storm Mahasen. ERF early recovery interventions completed by the time other donor funded projects were launched in the field. This point to the flaw in the effectiveness of the post disaster assessment and coordination for resource mobilization and response in the current humanitarian coordination system. However, it should be noted that there was a delay in responding through Early Recovery Mechanism. For instance, in South East Flood affected area, early recovery was launched six months after the disaster took place. Similarly in Mahasen Cyclone affected area, although the time taken for Early Recovery was reduced, even two and a half months period is considered as too long in relation to need of disaster affected population. 20. As it is understood, ToR for response projects are developed only after the Phase 3 sector specific needs assessment that takes place only after third week and takes another 3 weeks for data collection, analysis, cluster consultation, report writing, and presentation and approval by HCTT and LCG-DER. Once donors commit based on HCTT or LCG-DER approval on priorities, TORs are developed and NGOs contracted for early recovery interventions. Two major early recovery project interventions undertaken under ERF include Cash for Work and Cash Grants. Therefore, early recovery project design should not wait for the detailed needs assessment and should be launched immediately after the result of the Government s D-Form report and Joint Needs Assessment report. 21. When there is such a time gap in launching Early Recovery interventions following disaster events, the purpose of Early Recovery by definition is absolutely not served. As Mission understands in a real situation there cannot be anytime gap between Emergency Relief Phase and Early Recovery Phase. Besides, it should be noted that there is a lack of clear and common understanding on the concept of Early Recovery among four donors, namely, AusAid, SDC, ECHO and DFID. There is no proper definition in UNDP Project Document. Therefore, it is worth defining what Early Recovery is in terms of time and this task is well beyond the tasks of MTR Mission. 22. Under Fast Track Procedure, contracted pre-qualified NGOs by ERF should be able to reach beneficiaries in the form of Cash for Work (CFW) and Cash Grants (CG) right after Relief Phase. As Fast Track Procedure (FTP) became affective in June 2013, performance under Fact Track Procedure in a real time large scale disaster is yet to be tested. 23. It was observed that information collected using Government s assessment tool, D Form, is not sufficient in order to prepare concrete Early Recovery Plans for immediate implementation. After a disaster, in order to bring life of affected population back to Page 15

16 normal, at least crucial information in respect of housing, water & sanitation, livelihoods/income is needed. Project Implementation Officer (PIO) based in Upazila Office is primarily responsible for filling up D -Form with the assistance of respective Union Parishod Chairman and Members covering all Unions. Therefore, revision of D Form becomes immensely useful. 24. In Bangladesh, each Upazila consists of three to four Unions and each Union consists of 9 Wards. In a large scale post disaster situation, if whole Upazila is affected, data collection process by using D Form in entire Upazia should be completed within the quickest possible time. Therefore, supervision of data collection process by Upazila PIO single handed is not practically easy exercise. Estimating value of physical damages by data collectors is a tedious task and very often, no standard basis would be used in such computing unless otherwise, cost norms or unit cost are available to them in advance. Therefore, practically, what is required is assessing physical damage within the quickest possible time and availability of skilled data collectors. Additional human resources to support PIO, as necessary, should be identified beforehand However, when Early Recovery Interventions are implemented by partner NGOs, support from other state agencies functioning in Upazila administrative area is required. For instance, when project interventions are undertaken to revive rural livelihoods like agriculture, livestock and fisheries and restore functioning of community infrastructure, technical support from respective agencies are evident and they should not be over-looked and undermined at any stage by partner NGOs for the benefit of affected population and sustainability of project interventions. 26. The following section of this report will deal with main evaluation criteria in line with M&E Framework and reported achievements of ERF in routine progress reporting. RELEVANCE OF ERF 27. The ERF project is found to be aligned with National Plan for Disaster Management in Bangladesh and it has emerged as successor project for DRF through an evolutionary process. It largely addresses dire need of capacity building of the Department of Disaster Management in early recovery following a disaster. Further, project interventions in the area of capacity building undertaken ERF were also found to be complimenting capacity building programmes being undertaken by UNDP funded CDMP being implemented by the by the Department of Disaster Management. ERF s contribution in coordinating early recovery assessment, planning, and response has been crucial in pursuing early recovery agenda in Bangladesh. As far as recent disaster affected population in Bangladesh is concerned, project interventions like construction of Core Family Shelters, providing Cash for Work, Cash for Training and Cash Grants are found to be highly relevant. Page 16

17 EFFECTIVENESS OF ERF 28. As ERF is at middle of the project implementation period it is premature to assess achievement of the overall objective as spelled out in UNDP Project Document. However, ERF has played a significant role in supporting implementation of the Disaster Management Act (2012), by building capacity of the newly created Department of Disaster Management. The Department of Disaster Management has been provided with enormous programmatic support in capacity building at both national and local levels. Besides, it has helped to enhance capacities of humanitarian actors including the partner NGOs by offering various training programmes on early recovery. Most significant contribution of ERF has been the support to implementation of LCG-DER priorities of 2012 as well as These contributions were found to be captured in the LCG-DER progress reports. EFFECIENCY OF ERF 29. ERF has developed strategic partnerships with key organizations such as - Bangladesh Scouts, IFRC, BDPC and other organizations which enabled it to achieve significant results within a period less than 3 years and limited resources. On the whole, project interventions appear to be cost effective. It was observed that unit cost of Disaster Resilient Core Family Shelters was reasonable and it was further confirmed by Local Administration in Aila Affected Area. Compared with similar shelters constructed by other agencies in terms of cost and quality of materials and workmanship, Core Family Shelters constructed by ERF is rated as the best by local administration in Koyra Upazila. 30. It was evident that overhead cost of contacted NGOs for disaster response in South East Flood affected area as well as Mahasen affected areas lie well below 10 percent of programme cost, which is considered as reasonable. However, it should be noted that paying salaries of permanent staffs of partner NGOs is not appropriate. RESULTS - OUTCOMES 31. The current Monitoring & Evaluation Framework consists of five outcomes and eight outputs and the salient features of such achievements are assessed below; OUTCOME- 01: COORDINATED EARLY RECOVERY MECHANISM IN PLACE 32. ERF contributed for reviewing the humanitarian coordination system in Bangladesh and reforming humanitarian coordination system through active participation in the Task Team jointly led by the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief and UNDP with support from UNICEF, WFP, DFID, ECHO, and OXFAM. Thereafter, reformed humanitarian coordination Page 17

18 architecture was approved by the LCG-DER 1 in January 2012 with establishment of the Humanitarian Coordination Task Team (HCTT) and the eight humanitarian clusters (Food Security, Nutrition, WASH, Health, Education, Early Recovery, Logistics, and Shelter). OUTPUT- 01: BY 2015, AN EARLY RECOVERY FACILITY IS FUNCTIONAL UNDP SURGE professionals representing different units have been trained for supporting large scale disaster events. The operational up-dated NGO Roster is fully functional and under UNDP new policy, pre-qualified NGOs can be mobilized within 48 hours following a disaster event. National SURGE facility has been established in April 2013, through partnership with Bangladesh Scouts, enabling Government and other stakeholders to mobilize 500,000 scouts across all districts during crisis. OUTPUT- 02: BY 2015, NATIONAL, DISTRICT AND UPAZILA LEVEL OFFICIALS ARE BETTER ABLE TO PREPARE, COORDINATE AND MANAGE EMERGENCIES AND EARLY RECOVERY Since September 2012, a total of 433 DRROs and PIOs (410 Male & 23 Female) have been trained on comprehensive disaster management that covers overe80% of the total DDM officials. The training was expected to result in better preparedness and response planning during cyclone Mahasen. Delivery of such training courses also enabled NAPD to improve their capabilities to arrange disaster management trainings in future. Further, 72 staffs (67 Male & Female) from 37 partner NGOs have been trained on early recovery approaches and methodologies. The training was aimed at enhancing partner NGO capacity on early recovery, and, improving their response capacity. ERF has established partnership with BDPC for implementation of the initiative titled Strengthening Local DM Practices through GO-NGO Partnership (SLDPGP). The expected results of the SLDPGP include: well-functioning Government-NGO coordination system; and improved capacity of Disaster Management Committee at district, Upazila and Union level; leading to better preparedness and response to disasters. The project is being implemented in the five most vulnerable districts - Khulna, Bagerhat, Pirojpur, Gaibandha and Jamalpur. Baseline data collection has been initiated. The Mission had no opportunity of assessing the progress made at local level, nevertheless, meeting was held with BDPC to gain in insight on the project results. OUTPUT- 03: BY 2015, INTEGRATED AND COORDINATED VOLUNTEER NETWORK READY TO RESPOND TO LOCAL AND NATIONAL LEVEL DISASTER EVENTS 1 Multilateral and bilateral donors and UN agencies are organized under the umbrella of the Local Consultative Group (LCG) to engage in dialogue with the Government on 18 thematic areas aligned with 6 th Five Year Plan Page 18

19 ERF is working with different volunteer platforms to establish and expand volunteer network to manage disaster emergency rapidly and effectively. ERF reached an agreement with Bangladesh Scouts for their capacity enhancement in distribution of relief, search and rescue operations in a more effective and proficient manner. A Letter of Agreement (LoA) was signed with the Bangladesh Scouts (BS) on 28 April The partnership enables ERF to have access to 500,000 scouts across the country during emergency situation. Training activities for the BS and supply of protective gear for volunteers is part of work plan. However, at the discussion held with Bangladesh Scouts, it was revealed that there is a significant delay in developing proposed Volunteer Management Information System. Once the MIS is operational, Government will be able to utilize the Scouts volunteers most efficiently. OUTCOME- 02: EARLY RECOVERY INNOVATIONS ARE LOCALLY DEVELOPED AND TESTED 33. Although early recovery innovations are yet to be replicated, as far as respective outputs are concerned, Build bank Better concept has been successfully incorporated in 265 disaster resilient core family shelters and climate resilient livelihood recovery under ERF in Koyra Upazila in Khulna district. Besides, afforestation of coastal area in Koyra Upazia as a wind belt and rehabilitation of embankment are in progress. Through ERF support, Dakhin Bedkashi of Koyra Upazilla (cyclone Aila affected area) has evolved as a resilient village. OUTPUT- 04: BY 2015, INNOVATIVE COMMUNITY-BASED RECOVERY SOLUTIONS HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED AND TESTED 265 Core Family Shelters, in the AILA affected areas, have been constructed and handed over to the beneficiaries in South Bedkashi. Besides CFS, ERF has supported the construction of a 3 km long embankment at Koyra to protect the land areas from high tide inundation. In an attempt to develop Community-based Recovery Solutions, ERF has implemented climate resilient livelihood options. Some household have been able to increase their income from homestead gardening, and other small scale income generation activities. The community resilience project in Koyra, Khulna district provides model for community-based recovery solution, which could be replicated to other similar contexts. OUTCOME- 03: NATIONAL SCALE EMERGENCY AND EARLY RECOVERY NEEDS ARE COMPLEMENTED 34. ERF s key role under this outcome has been the advocacy and facilitation of Government s participation and leadership in the post disaster needs assessment and response planning. As part of its mandate, ERF also complimented national efforts during emergencies. About 16,946 families (14,216 families in flood affected areas and 2,200 families affected by tropical Mahasen storm) have benefitted from livelihood recovery assistance. In addition, Page 19

20 265 Aila flood affected families were provided with disaster resilient Core family shelters under ERF. OUTPUT- 05: NATIONAL EMERGENCY RESPONSE AND EARLY RECOVERY HAVE BEEN ACHIEVED UNDP, through the ERF project, led the Joint Needs Assessment Task Force resulting in an agreement of the humanitarian actors in Bangladesh for a joint needs assessment (multi-sector and multi-agency with Government leadership) for Phase 1 (within 72 hours following a disaster) and Phase 2 (within 2 weeks from the onset of a disaster). The Joint Needs Assessment methodology was approved by the LCG-DER which ensures that needs of affected people are responded to in real time and as part of a process of joint assessment and response. As reported in Quarterly Progress Reports, many livelihoods activities in the form of Cash Grants coupled with livelihood training were undertaken in both Aila affected areas as well as tropical storm Mahasen affected areas. However, the Mission has been not adequately convinced of benefits of such assistance through Cash Grants during filed visit in Chokoria (flood response in south-east). Further, SKUS has failed to follow up with Cash Grant Recipients to ascertain the return on investment on various livelihood opportunities. Field Monitoring Reports submitted by ERF Livelihood Coordinator do not carry specific details (Name, Address, Amount Spent, Livelihood activity, current status of livelihood, income earned etc.).. Also, success stories were not documented for knowledge management. OUTCOME- 04: EARLY RECOVERY PROCEDURES ARE SUSTAINED 35. The most notable progress of ERF has been under this outcome. Within less than three years, significant contribution has been made in reforming the humanitarian coordination system in Bangladesh, under the leadership of the Secretary, MoDMR, and UN Resident Coordinator.ERF provided technical support to LCG-DER for the review of the humanitarian coordination system. Based on this review findings and recommendations, Humanitarian Coordination Task Team with eight humanitarian clusters was set up. UNDP, supported by ERF, has been leading two of the eight humanitarian clusters (Early Recovery Cluster and Shelter Cluster). OUTPUT- 06: EMERGENCY RESPONSE COORDINATION SUPPORTED THROUGH DER-LCG AND NATIONAL CLUSTER SYSTEM For the first time in Bangladesh, in 2012, a Joint Needs Assessment (JNA) was carried out with strong Government ownership a scenario very different from 2011, where more than 13 needs assessments were undertaken by different NGOs and UN Agencies with limited coordination. The process of coordination embedded in the government system promotes its sustainability in the long run. The collective preparedness of humanitarian community to respond to the cyclone Mahasen Page 20

21 Operation in 2013 stands out as one of the key examples of effective coordination by the government. Coordination capacity and commitment, has increased enormously over the past two years. UNDP is the lead agency for two out of the eight humanitarian clusters namely the Early Recovery and the Shelter Cluster. The responsibility of leading the Shelter Cluster is shared with IFRC with IFRC playing a convening role during the relief phase. ERF is the main instrument of UNDP in managing these two clusters. Early recovery coordination mechanism has been strengthened and sustained through implementation of ER Cluster Action Plan; Government leadership in the cluster (Co-Chaired by Jt. Secretary MODMR); active participation of non-government humanitarian actors; ER Cluster guidelines; which has laid the foundation for planned and coordinated early recovery. In terms of outputs, ERF supported Early Recovery Cluster in the coordinationof livelihood recovery initiatives in the Mahasen affected districts. Needs assessment findings and recommendations were presented to the HCTT and the LCG-DER. Early Recovery Response Strategy for Mahasen was developed and implemented. OUTPUT- 07: SUPPORT TO BANGLADESH TO PARTICIPATE IN REGIONAL AND GLOBAL DISASTER RISK MANAGEMENT AND CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION INITIATIVES ERF has also undertaken the initiatives to mainstream urban disaster risk into development processes using global advocacy, regional partnership and local implementation modalities. The Narayanganj Municipality has been strengthened in the contexts of urban disaster risk reduction and response capacities by ERF with several activities: (a) urban risk and vulnerability assessment; (b) community capacity enhancement through training sessions for the volunteer groups and simulation exercises; and (c) institutional capacity development by developing a Disaster Risk Management (DRM) Plan and trainings of Municipality disaster management committees and volunteers. OUTCOME- 05: EARLY RECOVERY POLICIES AND STANDARDS ARE DEVELOPED AND APPLIED 36. Bangladesh Disaster Management Policy is in draft stage. Based on request made by Joint Secretary/MoDMR, ERF has provided inputs for integrating early recovery in the draft policy document. Early recovery cluster guidelines have been endorsed in the third quarter OUTPUT- 08: BY 2015, POLICIES, STANDARDS AND MECHANISMS FOR EARLY RECOVERY ARE IN PLACE Page 21

22 Early Recovery Cluster Guidelines has been prepared and endorsed by stakeholders. ERF has also developed Early Recovery Needs Assessment Protocol aimed at promoting shared understanding of various steps in the needs assessment process for an effective Cluster response. SUSTAINABILITY OF ERF 37. As assessing achievement of ERF objective assessing sustainability of ERF after nearly three years of project implementation is not very timely. Under any circumstances, sustainability of all ERF accomplishments mostly depends on interest and commitment by the Ministry of Disaster Management & Relief and the Department of Disaster Management. The current leadership at DDM would definitely contribute for greater sustainability of ERF accomplishments both at national and sub-national levels. Most of the ERF initiated interventions such as capacity development of DDM officials; hazard specific contingency planning; Annual report on disaster response and recovery etc. are closely anchored within relevant units of DDM and led by the respective Directors. This is expected to ensure knowledge transfer and ensure sustainability. 38. Sustainability of Capacity Building Programmes is largely dependent on continuous updating and refreshing knowledge and skills and, therefore, Refresher Training is mandatory as an on-going and non-stop activity even in the absence of ERF. 39. ERF had been helping DDM to develop hazard specific contingency plans in the recent past.ddm is also in a process of developing and updating these contingency plans as per national requirement and this process paves the way for building up national ownership and becoming independent in preparing contingency plans without external support. 40. Sustainability of rural roads constructed remains a question; manual compacting, both sides of road banks are not protected, no culverts for drainage, more importantly, no commitment from LGED of Upazila Office for maintenance. 41. Partnerships are well in operation at local levels as observed by the Mission during field visits. Communication and relationship among all Union P Chairmen & members, NGO staffs, Upazila staffs and affected population Officers appear to be highly effective and such nature of partnerships at local administration is mandatory for effectiveness and sustainability of early recovery interventions. ADDITIONAL REMARKS 42. Progress Reporting: It is common experience that sound project management reflects credible reporting and vice versa. It was observed that Quarterly and Annual Progress reports do not carry sufficient information on project accomplishments as well as accurate information although Progress Reports are attractive to the reader due to presence of colorful photographs. The bulk of the work undertaken by ERF, primarily in 2013, has been Page 22

23 capacity building of the newly created Department of Disaster Management and prequalified NGOs. While specific details of capacity development activities were not provided in the progress reports, list of participants, subject of training, duration, participants designation and their organizations by geographical area along with other details exist with project. 43. A typical Project Progress Report should carry physical progress and financial progress. Even though financial progress is given by outcomes for the operating year in both quarterly and annual progress reports as against annual budget, cumulative expenditure in respect of five outcomes are not made explicit. More importantly, expenditure breakdown by common budgetary items like Project Management, Technical Assistance, Capacity Building/Training, Transport, Traveling, Procurement, communication are not stated. 44. Further, description on ERF accomplishments are not provided in successive progress reports. For instance, as reported in Updated M&E Framework and 2013 Third Quarter Progress Report, Early Recovery Guidelines were endorsed by ER Cluster and brief information on such guidelines is useful to the reader. Similarly, short descriptions on on-going activities like preparation of Shelter Guidelines, Livelihood Recovery strategy and standards for Shelter are important to cover in routine progress reporting. 45. Fast Track Procedures (FTP) approval was granted to ERF by UNDP Head Quarters in June 2013 whereas Mahasen storm occurred in 16 May As reported in Draft 2013 Annual Report, FTP enabled ERF to reach out to the Mahasen affected families with timely early recovery assistance, funded by Australian Aid. However, contract signing date for Uttaran and Muslim Aid for early recovery in Mahasen affected areas appears as 05 August 2013 and, therefore, speediness of FTP is questionable. Besides, as reported in 2013 Draft Report, NGO Roster for ERF became operational after fielding a mission from the UNDP Head Quarters in September As reported in 2013 Draft Annual Report, and IT firm was contracted and a comprehensive and interactive web-based Disaster Volunteer Information System (VIS) has been developed to allow humanitarian actors access to information on volunteers in case of a specific disaster event and to deploy them for emergency response in a timely manner. However, at the discussion held with Bangladesh Scouts on 4 February 2014 VIS development was delayed and was to be delivered to Bangladesh Scouts in a month. 47. Although it was brought to the notice of the MTR Mission at the time of providing comments on the Draft Review Report by the project management that ERF had inputs for integration of early recovery in the Disaster Management Policy, no such details are mentioned in 2013 Quarterly Progress Reports as well as 2013 Draft Annual Report. However, evidence of discussions with MoDMR officials, and relevant documents were available. 48. Gender: ERF was found be adequately addressing gender dimension in implementing project interventions. As reported in project progress reporting 80% of the total female PIOs of 28 received training on Comprehensive Disaster Management. 62% women benefited from the livelihood recovery following 2012 flood/landslide in the South East Page 23